Blue Vinyl AND Poisoned Profits Response

I have a brief response to Poisoned Profits as well because I forgot to put my thoughts from that book into blog-form. So, about Poisoned Profits...I'm sorry I missed the discussion with the Shabecoffs because while I was reading I was wondering how difficult it must have been to document such a multitude of these injury/illness cases. The research they did was incredible, but I kept thinking about the emotional weight that they must have felt, too. I was glad though, that as the book the progressed it spoke to other key issues in addition to the emotional. The Shabecoffs recognize that we do need chemicals, and that in many cases the capitalist society we live in encourages the cheapest means to dispose of waste. I thought they had insightful and knowledgable advice to how we can get around these two issues and protect ourselves amidst all the chemicals to which we are exposed.

Now, about Blue Vinyl- I had seen this movie once before in a class I took my freshman year. The first time, the movie really introduced to me to this concept that materials can be most harmful in their production and disposal. Watching the movie today was a reminder of how dangerous this fact is, but I also saw it through a new light with regards to environmental justice issues, and all the environmental chemistry I have learned last semester and this summer. Judith remarked on the problem that vinyl is just cheaper to produce, which I think is a massive obstacle to overcome. The Shabecoffs touched upon this, not about vinyl specifically, but about the influences from capitalism. They suggested that the government needs to step in and motivate industry to produce and dispose cleanly. I really hope this film helps motivate action like that because it is frightening how such a widely-used product puts human lives on the line.